bh had hho oh he ete he be hehe) r F al World Music 4all PUBLICATIONS Peran CL Ase Res aaa RE ed Copyright 2007 World Music 4all Publications International Copyright Secured eee) No part of this publication may be photocnpied or reproduced in any form or by any means without, Ere taku eae ee te ee ae US. Copyright Act and will be prosecuted, B rs BS e B cS = a ad a > o » rs rs a > 2 rs rs » a | aTHE: EMOUOHION OF eM bs CRE Dies > Executive Proucers: Cover Design: 4 David Hakim and LarryKomblum Joe Klucar Producer: Ray Brych Editors: Ray Brych and Rick Gratton Book Design and Layout: Rick Gratton Music wettan, recor Derek Rod ites ‘Transcriptions: esp suderdele FL Rick Gratton ne Technical Editor: Guest Screams: Nadine DeMarco Doctor IMPALEHER Consultant: Jim PetercsakWea ULC ia) A VS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS hanks to Mom and Dad, Rosemary and Randy Roddy; my brother Randy Jr; my beloved grandmother Mary; my better half, Halle Herzog; and the Herzog farnily, Gloria and \amry, for continued support. All at World Music 4all: Ray Brych, David Hakim, Larry Kornblum, and Mike Finkelstein for believing in the drumming community enough to take a chance on a book tke this. Rick Gratton, thanks forall of your hard work on getting this together. You rock! My www.derekroddy.com forum members, who continue to lead the wa education of extreme playing, Hail the drum kit! online Mike McGowan of Black Morning Star Production for making the website possible. Special thanks to Mario, Ramon Ochoa, and Matt Garret. All my warking buddies at Resurrection Drunts: Jeff and Ike Lee, Darryi Bonebreak, Chip Staples, Justin Prather, Eddie M, Joe Basie, Felipé P, Randy Robins, Joe Fagan, Jason Furman, Big Al, and Brad for making a “day job" so fun,—you guys rule. My South Carolina buddies: Philip Watts, Todd "GOD" Turner, Mike A. Robinson, Chad Waller, Scott Johnson, Steven Hires, Shannon Hawkins, and Bob Moore. My snake buddies Scott Lave, Tom Keogen, Tom McLay, and all at Ben Siegel Reptiles. Derek Bemier of Rock Solid Amps, Santiago Dobles, and Randy Piro. Virgil Donati for your support, advice, and encouragement. Dom Famulare...good times with you, my friend —you always motivate me to do the best | can, and | thank you for the Constant enlightenment. Joe Bergimini, my new-found brother Johnny Rabb, Mike Mangini, John Favicchia, Todd Sucherman, Alex Cohen, Steve Ashiem, Max Kolesar, Gus Rios, John Merryman, Thomas Lang, Gil Sharone, Johnathon Mover, Steve White, Forrest Robinson, Flo Mounier, "The One, the Only” Marco Soccoll, Jan Axel Blomberg, Trym, Tony Laureano, Nick Barker, John Longstreth, George Kollias, Dave Haley, Mike Hamilton, Anthony Laurella, Frank Katz, Andrew Fisenden, Bobby Jarzombek, Paul Bostaph, Jason Bittner, Derico Watson, Benny Greb, Matt Gossman, Matt Byrne, Mike B, Sean Reinert, Chip Ritter, Matt Ertel, Bruce Aitken at Cape Breton Drum Festival, Rick Van Horn and Bill Miller at Modern Drummer, Andy and all at ‘Drum!magazine, Tory Maggiolino and all at Drummers Collective NY, Tim Pedersen and ‘Chuck Silverman at Mi, Frank Comniola and TUDW, Mick Lamb from the Drum Shop in Perth. ‘Scott Atkins from Coast Music in Canada. Extva-special thanks to Chip Staples and Chuck Parker for helping me transcribe my exercises. E Nf O R$ .E MLE NT. S$ Jay Medynski and Sean Cox at Sonor USA. You guys have been tremendous in making my dreams a reality. Karl Menzel and Stephan at Sonor Germany, one milion thanks [SABIAN CYMBALS] Bobby Boos, Chris Stankee, Chris Delucia, Ann MacNally, and all at Sabian cymbals for being the most cutting-edge cymbal company in the world. My other family: Darrell Johnson, Chuck and Karen Blashaw, Raul Cortes, and all at Axis Percussion for making the best pedals on Earth eae Allen Vater, Chad Brartdolini, Bill Morgan, Johnny C, and all at Vater Chris Hart and Matt Connorsfe eee ae CONTENTS td GL DIARY OF THE SKANK BEATS aaa See Ba ES aN HAMMER OR HYPER BLAST FREEHAND BLAST ROLLS & FILLS DLV nara aay iM ada tees Ta PME naa Gite esg Tit rd BLASTING HAND ACCENT PATTERNS aii hy FOOT EQUALING SYSTEM DOUBLE BASS DRUM WORKOUT ana a ge CES Me SETS BYE ea aT fa FA co [ico [co Me re fi Bn B— aTRACKS pee cereecerncnes Pace TRACK Introduction... se ‘skank Up, Skank Down, Skank Triplet, Skank Up DB, Skank Down DB. 2,3,4,5,6 ‘Skank Metal Up, Skank Punk sn 18 Traitional Blast, Bomb Blast, Hammer Blast Freehand Blast. . 9,10, 11, 12 Traditional Blast Triplet, Bomb Blast Tiplet, Hammer Blast Triplet, Freehand Blast Tripit...... 13,14, 15,16 Traditional Blast Variation 2nnnnnnnnnnnnnnt . ”7 Bomb Blast Variation 2. . 18 Hammer Blast/Quarter Note Ride Pattern, Hammer Blast/Played as Hyper Bast at 150 bpm, Hammer Blast Alert .nnsnnnnsnnnnnn sen 19,20, 21 Freehand Blast . . 2 Motion Exercise 3, Maton Exeris® Poo monm a 23,24 Split Exercises 4, 3, 5, 7... ee : 39 25 Split Exercises 9, 14, 13, 15.. . 26 ‘Split Exercises/Snare Lead 2, 4, 6, B.vewsnmnmnnnnnnnnnnnn 7 Split Exercises/Snare Lead 10, 12, 14, 16. Split Exercises Sixteenths 4, 4,5, 8... Split Exercises Siteenths 9, 12, 13, 16... Split Exercises Sixteenths 17, 20, 24, 24... Combination examples 4, 2, 3 ven Balance/SpltTop/Bottom 4,8, 5,7, 8, 15. Accert Pattems 1, 4,7, 10, 14... Triplet Accent Patterns 1, 3, 5, 7 on Triplet Accent Pattems 9, 11, 13, 15 Clave Variations 4 & 3. Foot Patterns 4, 6, 7, 14, 13, 16, 16, 18. Foot Patterns 21, 23, 26. Hand/Foot Combinations 4, 3, 5, 7 Hand/Foot Combinations 9, 14, 13, 15 Double Bass Workout 2A, 1B, 3A, 5B. Double Bass Workout 6A, 7A, 8A, 9A. Double Bass Grooves in Tree 4, 3 5,6, 8 12. Double Bass Grooves in Four 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 14 Beyond Blasting, . - Guitar Loops 4, 2, 3. Congested with Fear (With rus). ‘The Marzear Labyrinth (With Drums) Halls Of Cerberus (With Drums). Congested With Fear (Without Drums)... ‘The Marzear Labyrinth (Without Drums). Halls Of Cerberus (Without Drums)oon hye a ie BIOGRAPHY erek Roddy was born August 28,1972, in Columbia, South Carolina, and started playing drums at the age of five. He played his first club gig at the ~ ‘age of eight with @ country cover band, By the age ol thirteen, Derek was gigging on a regular basis and formed his first original metal bahchin 1967, The: Debening Method. Fresh out of high school, he joined his fest national act, Bedlam Hour, @ punk rock band who toured the U.S, and Europe, richslad No fea in the early 90s, ‘After nmany years of club dates and small tours in 1996, Derek joined Malevolent Keesation: Which launched his metal journey. He then recorded many extreme metal albums,starting with Praisethe Archaic Lights Embrace with Aurora Borealis in4997 and NotthermLights in ‘1999, meanwhile forming Divine Empire with former Malevolent members and fecording Redemption in-1998, ‘Also known 35 Derek “One Take” Rodin reference tothe accuracy oFhs studio drumming and the speed with which tie can learn riew material, Derek joined death metal giant { Hate Eternal in 1999 and recorded a setles of releases. In.2000, Derek recorded Reveling Damnation with Council of the Fallen anil that'same yearDerek also recorded Wile’s | kk groundbreaking release, Black Seeds of Vengeance. Hate Eternal then fallowed up with King: ‘of All Kings in 2002 and 4 Monarch in 2004, when his playing had grown to new levels of finesse, ‘> control, and experimentation. Derek is well known On the death metal scene for his extreme speed and endurance, and Is not only one of the fastest drummers alive, but Blso one of the most musical. Beyond his astonishing speed, what separates him from the pack are his incredible “blasting*techniques, which his peers strive for. Derek has begun to receive critical acclaim for his playing, teaching ‘and musical approach outside of the death metal community, gamcring Accolades and Interest fiom mary:notables nthe broader word of drumming. Fotaoreiotmation, please visit wwwealerekroddy.com, which Hosts odofite Successful and educational website forums about metal drumrtiig. with more eal 134 ‘members and clase to 50,000 hits per day. ca Ceo eR td DRUM KEYa CL RT ad by A very special thanks goes to my mom Rosemary and my dad Randy for always supporting and encouraging me throughout my musical and life endeavors. {love you both very much.aaa aT ald |eeac onan eS HISTORY OF AN UNKNOWN GENRE nil now, blast beats have been a musical myth, with virtually no written publications or educational forums available. However, blast beats have been a part Cf musical expression for the better part of 20 years, starting in the early "80s with the European grindcore movement. Bands across Europe and America were using this form of aggression throughout the mid to late ‘80s, but not until Napalm Death recorded its first effort, Scum, in 1987 did blasting become a form of musical expression on its way to becoming its own genre. Meanwhile, in the states grind was taking a shape of its own, and one drummer stands out in making blast drumming what it is today. Pete Sandoval of Terrorizer and later Morbid Angel made it musical by defining and giving blasting a solid time signature. Until this point, blasting was just notes for the sake of aggression, with no time or structure within its musical context. Pete, along with many other death metal drummers, redefined this style of drumming throughout the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Today extreme music has grown in popularity and received more appreciation from musicians outside the genre, Blast beats are being used by an assortment of newer metal bands, but nothing tops the mayhem and endurance levels of today’s extreme metal drummers pushing tempos from 16th notes into the 230 bpm range and above for longer periods of time. Bands like Serpent's Rise, Cryptopsy, Nile, Origin, and Psycroptic are pushing new physical levels while retaining their musical qualities for all to admire. Why would a drummer want to go through the trouble of such demanding physical playing? Other than its obvious musical purpose, setting a goal and reaching itis a fulfilling acheivement that one can be proud of. For those who argue that chops and speed do not matter, extreme drumming requires both. With ail styles of music, “fee!” always seems to be the most important element among extreme metal musicians, even if t's playing a million miles per hour because all musicians share that common goal; it has to feel good too! Extreme drummers are at an exciting point in the musical timeline of history. With broader education and knowledge detailing this style of drumming, the rest of the musical world is slowly understanding and realizing that we are extreme drummers who should be heard and taken seriously. So there!ee ee ha) Vhs BLAST BEATS Definition: An alternating single-stroke roll broken up between the kick and snare, with your ride hand generally playing in unsion with the kick drum, Pr traditional and correct way to count blast beats are as 32nd notes within the ‘text of notation; however, when playing these exercises along with a metronome, | ke to count them as 16th notes at a faster speed or bpm. Example: 32nd notes at 110 bpm = 16th notes at 220 bpm For most of us, it’s more efficient to practice blast tempos this way. You hear more clicks within the space of a measure, and this makes it easier to lock in and keep the blast beat clean. For this reason, | have written the entire book as 16th notes, with the exception of the. song transcriptions that have been rewritten as 32nds.5 A a A OS A Tee a ee ee ee eee es aan ) LS ce = SS pt lag a == es, Cee ae ae nie aie aie on > 7 ‘i osMua Je S119.) DIARY OF THE SKANK BEATS he term skank actually came from a dance. The European punk movement began the angry dancing, or skanking, which later was coined as”moshing’ within the metal audience in America. Slayer was one of the first American metal bands to use skank beats, along with Dark Angel, Testament, Exodus, and Forbidden. in fact, Slayer started out as more of a punk band and fused that with the American thrash scene, Most of us were not using the term skank until recent years, It was labeled the “Slayer” beat or “thrash” beat after the genre of music established itself in the U.S. at thet time. It is simply a 2/4 rock beat sped up or a fast and angry polka: O xa vreexr O ssa v0 near oon tae Wt © sii vPszar oous.e exss Ey sian« oownsear oous.e ens pyc pp Se ‘Cet Geir te ee”a oem ety nae You also have variations in the kick pattern as well: METAL DOWNBEAT O enver OAH, _~OFaT aro | i ao J ETAL INVERTED UPEEAT ETAL INVERTED DOWNBEAT MT =a EP er ot PUNK INVERTED z Eo es SRT Ta TTT eae ITI Daas esa d adda UII IOs aI UIIi Une tsies) Lomond es DIARY OF THE BLAST BEATS {he evolution of the blast beat has been somewhat of a mystery in the drumming [community not to mention the music world in general, There has been very litle [ESS information documented on the subject other than bits and pieces found on the Internet, because of a lack of public approval for this style of music. This book will shed some light on blast beats, their variations, the bands that use them, where they came from, and some basic information about this genre we all extreme metal | hope to help educate the drum teachers, the casual players, and the extreme players of the drumming world with the exercises and play-along materia on the following pages. Even if you are not into this style of music, the exercises presented will dramatically improve your timing, speed, and endurance, not to mention your double bass technique, your balance behind the kit, and much more. So grab a pair of sticks, and let's start blasting! There are four basic catagories of blast beats: © oT avsr © teen aust STRONERIMPEPE ee EE EEC EE EE PELE EP ELE PPP Pee eS ea Umea tad mtd Th Extreme drummers play blast beats in many different ways, but the basic notations for them are based on the four patterns from page 18. What can make them tricky are the endless variations of different stickings and phrasings one can experiment with, NOTE: When you'e practicing all of the patterns throughout this book, practice rewriting and playing the alternating hand and foot patterns. This will completely change the feel of each pattern, BLAST TRIPLET EXAMPLES ° TRADITIONAL BLAST phe coe" t - oy! 7s E a) e HAMMER BLAST cr FREEHAND BLASTrn ap; a ev We DB =I S3) = <) a pan aay oa Ee so2 ito ae ee wT he traditional blast beat originated during the European grindcore movement by bands such as Napaim Death, Repulsion, and Extreme Noise Terror as a way to one- up the US. thrash scene, Meanwhile, n the U.S. bands such as Slayer, Dark Angel, and Exodus were still using the skank beats in their music. By increasing the tempos and number of notes with this blasting concept, the grindcore bands moved into first place for ‘most extreme music by the mid to late '80s. Notice that blasting originally came from punk and hardcore music, not metal as most people would think. However, the grindcore movement was not responsible for defining what blast beasts are today. That was left to death metal bands of the '90s like Morbid Angel, Monstrosity, Deicide, and Malevolent Creation, which use more traditional styles of blasting. The Traditional Blast is a simple alternating 16¢h-note pattern in which the hands are playing single strokes between the ride hand and snare drum, while the bass drum usually mimics the ride hand. These blast variations would all be considered traditional: TRADITIONAL BLAST VARIATION 1 | acc) PEA ° VARIATION 2 VARATION 3 “nina | eee Another way to play traditional blast is by separating the kick line and alternating the feet, instead of playing all the notes with one foot. This is lovingly called the “two-foot” or "economy" blast. “TWO FOOT or “ECONOMY” BLAST f { 4 Iike to use these for balance exercises as well. (See Balance section.)Boe aieVea UL oe ae Fe Cote oecccccsrececvesiecEeioc eee ee THE BOMB BLAST 5 more and more metal bands incorporated blasting into their music, many = > variations of the blast beat started to develop, The Bomb Blast became popular in £50 the early 90's by bands such as Cannibal Corpse and Bolt Thrower, who only used this type of blast in their material. Today, however, many bands are incorporating this blast. and variations of it into their music. Because most metal drummers like to use double bass drums in their playing, sooner or later it had to be incorporated into blasting, Blasting with double bass is an ai-out assault! Hence the name, the Bomb Blast. ‘Again, there are many different stickings for these variations, but they are almost always notated the same. Most drummers play this with the snare leading the blast, while Traditional Blasts lead with the kick. Basically the Bomb Blast is an inverted Traditional Blast using both kicks. BOMB BLAST or CANNIBAL BLAST 0) VARIATION 2 714 VARIATION 328 Beas eee S11 HAMMER OR HYPER BLAST his blast came about when death metal was at its peak in the early '90s. This type of metal was receiving a good amount of exposure attracting new fans and new “= musicians to the genre. Having a good seven-year start, the "traditional" players had the time needed to develop the skills necessary to alternate 26th notes at 220 bpm, By alternating the feet to play the eighth notes (instead of playing them all with one foot), and lining the feet up with the snare drum (instead of putting the snare note between the kicks), the newer players had come up with a way to keep the snare drum the same tempo but economize everything else. This was a simple and efficient way to play the tempos required, This can be somewhat confusing because you are no longer alternating strokes in the pattern (kick, snare, kick, snare, etc), as you were playing alternating eighth notes to make 16th notes between the hands and feet. Now you are playing straight eighth notes at the same time. This is very easy to do with this type of blast because you really need only one fast hand to perform them. The hyper" term came ftom playing these blast beats at extremely fast tempos, HAMMER BLAST - 3 HAMMER BLAST ‘ECONOMY HAMNER BLAST “QUARTER NOTE ADE” ) ome me, of fd with ECONOMY 2 ek pattem at i 150 bpm 6 HANMER BLAST “ALTERNATE”ee me ead bs FREEHAND BLAST he Freehand Blast is the most recent blast to surface. This blast has been called the Gravity Blast, but because gravity has nothing to do with the physical mation, | choose to call this one the Freehand Blast. The Freehand Blast uses Johnny Rabbs method of pushing and pulling the stick on and off the rim of the snare in an up and down motion that allows you to play a single-stroke roll using the rim as a fulerum. Many of you have seen this technique already, and Johnny Rabb has a book about it titled The Official Freehand Technique. This concept is by no means anything new, but Johnny has brought this technique to the forefront by using it in modern music with complete control and musicality. With that said, it seems appropriate to name this one after the modern-day founder. © eww aust ALTERNATE FREEHAND BLASTie) Ua At ROLLS AND FILLS won't go into great detail about rolls and fills because there are endless possibilities, | one could discuss on this subject. Every player will interpret music differently and bring [= his or her own ideas into any given musical situation. Because you are playing every note in a measure by blasting, it makes it difficult to be extra creative in this department. The main focus of this style of drumming is energy, so it really doesn't make sense to ‘compromise the feel of the music by forcing your favorite syncopated creative licks within the song, For example, if you are playing a slow quarter-note ballad, it wouldn't be musically appropriate to force a 32nd-note roll around the set. Therefore, with this style of music, keep ‘your fills in line with the tempo and style of the song, The exercises below are written in eighth notes but should also be played as 16ths matching the blast beats you are playing, Start slowly and gradually build up your speed and stamina needed for proper blasting 8 hits per drum for 2 minutes 4 hits per drum for 2 minutes 1 hit per drum for 2 minutes 1 !ea Le eA dS When you get these up to tempo, think about the motion as if you were sawing wood with a handsaw or pushing/bouncing a basketball against a wall. the body “mentally.” Hear is a great way to practice moving around the drum set by applying four simple exercises, Each drum as shown above is the Snare Drum 1, Snare Drum 2, Tom 1, Tom 2, Tom 3, and Tom 4, which you will use to air-drum overtop of these drawings with these four motions. Once you've got it, whip over and apply your new air-drum motions to the drum set! The motions, starting from the left and moving to the right, should be played applying the 8, 4, 2, and 1 hits per drum exercises while applying single strokes, and then experiment with your own combinations of singles and double strokes for each drum for two minutes, each at Various consistent tempos. — — Le Practice and repeat these simple motion exercises: % igunrcomblnations ke og i 4.SD14SD2 481-973 ‘ 2.$D2+SD1+73-4SD1 3:$D1 911412913474, 4 $D29T1412373 914. »s1$D29T1912913 4749501 fil - 6.$D14SD2+$D14T1 974573 4501 7,$D1 41198015 12->SD1918 4SD1 414 8.$D2 411 > 12918-94473 9 124119802, - 9.SD1>T1 312973214913 4129719501 3 ae 10. SD1+T1 spt +12 >SD1 913-4$D14 14551913 4501 om480 m1 seperti renew las Ra SRE El PRA RNR OE 33Pa Ta ea ae36 as ua Ted eS Using Blast Beats as Balance Exercises racticing blast beats is @ simple and easy way to work on your foundation behind the kit. believe that a lack of balance is THE most important issue that can plague us drummers. It affects everything from tempo, feel, technique, and most of all musical transitions “in and out’ of parts. Of course any playing that involves moving the feet separately, such as double bass patterns, left-foot clave pattems, and interdependence patterns will affect your body's balance. Being centered as a player will dictate how you make your ideas become a reality on the drums and everything comes together with balance and understanding how it will affect your body. | don't think enough has been said about the importance of balance. | suggest using this book not only to serve as an education and history about blast beats, but also to serve as a method to improve your balance through playing these blast beats as exercises. Ifyou are a drummer who hasr't played much double bass, you will ntice it’s not easy to lift the left foot up and down, alternating with the right. When we lift that hi-hat foot up in the air, it pulls away from our balance point. Most of us drummers use our less dominate foot on the hi-hat, only for minimal use, serving as a human kick stand while playing the drum kit. If you are at all interested in improving your double bass skills, this is the FIRST thing you need to focus on. Here's one exercise | have found to be extremely effective: 8 F Sit at your drum kit with your feet (ankles) directly under your knees. Lift both of your legs directly up about three or four inches. Do not curl them under your throne; lift them straight up! ‘Try to hold this for as long as you can each day before you start your practice routine. If | you can get used to this feeling quickly, double bass will come fairly easy to you. When doing this exercise, you will notice that you want to arch your back. This is okay at first, but work toward keeping your back straight, and as youdo this every day and gain strength, your back will become straight. Keep in mind that your abdominal muscles and lower back muscles are your support when you are playing double bass. twill take you only about three months to feel a © difference in your lower torso muscles, but you will notice a huge difference in your foundation behind the kit. You will feel much more in control and confident, so remember, a solid.foundation is one of the most important requirements for a working drummer to have,fe omer ee BALANCE EXERCISES, PART 1 SPLIT RIGHT SIDE / LEFT SIDE ne way to improve control behind the kit is by playing single strokes, alternating between a hand and a foot with your dominant side, while introducing more intricate patterns with your less dominant side. This will eventually increase your command over things such as ghost notes, interdependence patterns, mechanical movements, and accuracy with your weaker side. Iike to play single strokes when first learning to play interdependent patterns against each other. This helps because you are conditioning yourself to play every note in the measure, which in turn makes it easier to play less complex patterns. Your body already knows what it feels like to play more notes mechanically, so practice more notes to make playing fewer notes easier, if that makes any sense. \won't go too far with these concepts because you can easily drive yourself down a road that takes the fun out of practicing. This can happen when you don't feel or see immediate improvement with your practice sessions. Before trying to play 40 different rudiments against each other and driving yourself mad because you can't execute them as quickly as you would like, think about the purpose they serve to your development as a player and the music you're making. Remember, these exercises are not designed to increase your ability as much as they are to increase your control. You don't have to get crazy with all of these different patterns to make improvements in your playing. Keep it simple and stay focused on selected exercises, and you'll see results more quickly. You can change the note value of the singles from 8ths to 16ths to 32nds to triplets against the rhythm as you get more comfortable. HAND / FOOT APPLICATIONS Combo 2 | Combo3 RH LH RE RE LH RH LF Check out the other hand/foot examples on page $3 >»STITT TIT TT ITITT IVI II ICI ddI GSI IG dels Idd addddddIddd es UL od SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT TEMPO MAP of 140-260bpmisa Ucn tet 1S SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT Cont'deae eee eee k eee ee eee e ds esd dd dd) ea UUme et ld SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT Contd ExercisesUe eT ald | ps SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT Cont'dPe omen RTIN Notice snare drum lead on bottom lineTe aa Nad Ve SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT Cont'die lm tl SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT Cont'd; aa i hae P| Lote) oe tea) Pe PHHHHLHHAFHHSHHHEHPASPHTKPHPHLHHKHLCLLLEKLSPEPLCLELCTEICEBEea ome a HabRe RR ee ee fac oes ete a7eo cal aa HE SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT with 16thsWea Lo neg oh ae Exerciee onankal te SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT with 16ths Cont'dsae coe ARG BEATS >| SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT with 16ths Cont'dtiene te SPLIT EXERCISES / RIGHT & LEFT with 16ths Cont'dihe cL UL hea iad When you are comfortable playing these with the right side leading with 16th notes, move the notation so the left side can lead. This cteates a totaly different feel and muscle control within the body: combination Explanation? Now we are going to cross the stickings... First your right hand/eft foot will play the téth-note single stroke and your left hand/right foot are going to play the patterns: rplanation 2 Do the reverse now... Lefthand/right foot play the 16th-note single strokes and right hand/left foot play the patterns: 53ita Umeha td thaaa eh SPLIT TOP / BOTTOM between the notes, Although they don't seem like they would, these patterns will help strengthen your pulse and timing behind the kit. They also provide excellent results for centering your body at the throne. ee hese top-to-bottom exercises help me realize and understand the length and spaceBALANCE EXERCISES, PART 2 SPLIT TOP / BOTTOM Cont'delem aad 1s Ws aap Gus Sip aun dhe Oil ae 40 Sie Sie Sth ae te aa oe eee ACCENT PATTERNS ‘ome people will argue that blasting has no groove or cannot be played with feeling, Toa certain extent, these opinions might be correct. The extreme challenge is to be able to play single-stroke 16th notes and make them groove with intensity and confidence. I have discovered in my practice sessions and playing live that experimenting and applying different types of ride patterns to these blast beats has helped me to lay down and define the natural pulse that is my trademark of blasting. These simple patterns can come from your own practice sessions and any of the drum books, educational DVDs, and recordings that focus heavily on various sticking combinations and their applications. A great rule of thumb is to listen and lock in with lead and comping accented guitar riffs within the songs, which can help set the mood and pulse needed for this style of drumming and add to the feel Presented are just some of the rhythmic accenting possibilities for ride and/or hi-hat patterns that will accomplish all of these goals and much more. Remember, as with all styles of music, feel is the most important aspect, especially when you are playing these patterns at the speed of sound! Dig in and let's get started, NOTE: Practice playing each exercise leading with the opposite hand and foot. Derren nee nemaMeese ed Th ACCENT PATTERNSPee TRIPLET ACCENT PATTERNS os {Te 21@ _ TRIPLET ACCENT PATTERNS Cont'd xardies 9% ps TISio am eed befe ue FOOT PATTERNS [BEBE Iie ere fm introducing a great interdependence technique I discovered and can claim ownership to that sounds extremely cool and is another killer technique to 12 explore and add to your blasting skills. Just for fun, | decided to experiment with and play all of my traditional blast patterns with my right foot, freeing up my left foot to play the same rhythms | would normally play with the hi-hat and/or ride cymbal on another sound source. To get you started, choose a sound source of your liking. In my case, it’s a ribbon crasher to the left of my main hi-hat. Practice adding these clave foot hi-hat rhythms to the basic blast. pattern on the next page, and gradually work up to extreme speeds without hurting yourself and anyone in the general area. You will quickly notice that it’s standard for most drummers who play traditional blast to use the economy style of alternating the feet, which doesn't free up the other foot; therefore, this is all the more reason to play traditional blast with one foot and get your interdependence grooves to burn at extreme tempos. Check it out: eeccceccccocs ° ° ° ° ° . . . ° ° ° ° Sivaad 1004FETT T TTT TTT TTT T Ieee esse este eee seeds sess ddbd88 oe aaa EXERCISE: Practice incorporating these four left-foat (hi-hat} clave rhythms, along with the other left-foot patterns presented on the next page, with this basic blast pattern. NOTE: Apply this technique to all the other coo! blast patterns throughout the book for seemingly endless possibilities using different sound sources available to you, such as cowbells, jam blocks, and crashers. Example: BASIC PATTERN with the left foot hi-hat CLAVE RHYTHM rn rete ee NS el 6 CLAVE RAYTHO 1 | CLAVE RHYTHM 2 6 CLAVE RHYTHM 3 CLAVE RHYTHM 4 F i 1 eer a | ' : 67fa ed FOOT PATTERNS mastersMn FOOT PATTERNS Cont'd PEPEP EPEC EPPO PTC 69ec uae ede HAND & FOOT COMBINATION SPLIT EXERCISES NOTE: Not only can you use these hand and foot patterns by themselves, but you can also try to combine the two for complete chaos among your limbs while blasting. This will create various polyrhythms between the two patterns for an interesting workout. Be aware of the balance changes within the body as you continue to work through these exercises. Be sure to take notes, tracking your progress to better balance on the kit. 70Tia ioe aad Ths HAND & FOOT COMBINATION SPLIT EXERCISES Cont'd 71ee er ae ibm8 ec a Rl THE FOOT EQUALING SYSTEM hese blasting exercises do just that, equal out your weaker foot by balancing it out with your dominant one. You will feel a drastic shift in weight when you begin to practice these exercises, but you will notice a positive change with your balance after about three months of consistent work, giving you a more centered and solid approach to your playing, These exercises will help improve your drumming no matter what style of music you play, Like all the exercises in this book, these are endurance builders, so practice each exercise for two minutes at just under the maximum bpm you can play with your weakest foot. 2 PER FOOTcy EET aE aap THE FOOT fo ee SYSTEM Cont'd 8 Per root a =] 9 - “9 9 > 1 os : : H . BR ¥ . ee : Re j . | eRe! L_.aD Pr af ee rata _— beet err | hate | ue 5) a ise} = a pou oa a) i=ea eel et Paes DOUBLE BASS DRUM WORKOUT a W he focus of this section is to concentrate on developing and strengthening the |“ weaker motion movements we ignore in our practice sessions. This workout is = specifically designed to deveop the muscle memory needed to feel the difference between two separate motions with our limbs while applying various dynamics levels. You will notice that we have two different note values played between two bass drums going from 16th notes to 32nd notes. When playing the 16th-note pattern, at say, 100 bpm, you will notice a tendency to use more leg muscles than when you switch to 32nd notes, which will focus the attention on your ankle movements for dexterity and ease of execution Notice the balance difference between both limbs while playing 16th notes which are more relaxed and free-flowing, versus the 32nd-note patterns which are more staccato (short and punchy). Be careful executing the strokes as you may naturally tense up between the two, but with time and practice the strokes will become much more even and you will maintain proper balance and dynamic levels. Being aware of these subtle differences can only help with speed and accuracy and that's what we all want, isn't it? Oh yeah! Let's begin with: Example: Notice how these exercises alternate between Line A on the next page played in 4/4 common time and Line B played in half time between the ride and snare drum. The bass drum line is the same, but the balance point feels much different between the two. ‘The tempo markings should be 100 bpm! As a warm-up, practice playing and repeating the following dynamic exercises with the hands and feet alternating between the two at tempos that gradually increase and decrease the dynamic levels, maintaining proper balance and accuracy. ‘Once you are comfortable, move on to the next page and apply these concepts to your 16th and 32nd note double bass drum grooves. Start your engines! ARARAA A Pa aaTe trtrene RtRuR CEES ESESEEAEETaek ones: edee omen Cad ee DOUBLE BASS WORKOUT EXERCISES Cont'd: Te eed ee DOUBLE BASS WORKOUT EXERCISES Cont'd VE VEPEEPIECEEPEPLELCEPECELIELLELIETILELE LEC ELT Cee eT Bo e@h Bl i 1 ' i i a | Be | | j ql / y | HE IR Bio. Bo. I iy i ql i i ; | ly i ps | | ‘| a182 ac oe ee DOUBLE BASS GROOVES ® he following pages contain several double bass grooves in both three and four feel time signatures (4/4 and 6/8), commonly heard in extreme metal. What makes these different from other double bass grooves that you might be used to is the half-time feel that most of these have. Infact, the half-time feel is most common in extreme metal even though there are thousands of notes being played. Using this half-time pulse makes it much easier to lock in together as a band, and it’s easier for listeners to digest what they're hearing, With this half-time pulse, listeners can still head-bang without their heads flying off Ha!reso UL mo aeNT td DOUBLE BASS GROOVES, 3’stac oem eB DOUBLE BASS GROOVES, 4’sPractice playing the kick lines as doubles beginning with the right foot tead and then lead with the left foot for endurance and pleasure: ii 8sTa na tad |aa esHe mom 119 Ves ENDURANCE EXERCISES 30-Minute Endurance Exercise Suggested tempo 150 bpm-250 bpm Playing Eighth Notes: 4 notes per hand for two minutes with four-count rest > 8 notes per hand for two minutes with four-count rest > 12 notes per hand for two minutes with four-count rest > 16 notes per hand for two minutes with four-count rest Alternating single strokes for two minutes (10-minute total) Follow same example for feet (10 minutes) Play same example again with feet and hands together for another 10 minutes This completes the entire 30-minute workout. Remember, this is an endurance exercise to help strengthen your weaker limbs and acheive perfect balance with all limbs and is not designed for speed. With these exercises the goal is to gradually increase the tempo so that you can comfortably make it through the entire exercise from start to finish. 10-Minute Combinations Suggested tempo, again 150 bpm-250 bpm. Alternating 16th note single strokes between a hand and afoot: Right Hand / Left Foot for two minutes > Left Hand / Right Foot for two minutes > Right Hand / Right Foot for two minutes > Left Hand / Left Foot for two minutes > T6th-note singles together for two minutes 15-Minute Free Fall 16th-note single strokes: Hands / Feet Together..... . . . five minutes > Feet . . ese ee eee neee five minutes > Hands ......... «+++ five minutes This last one is a WAR?Here is great idea that I use often. | find that if sing a favorite song or riff in my head at the tempo I'm working on with these exercises it relly makes it easier to get through my practice routine, and | can be more creative in the process! PeSSeeoe Ss SSeS Seafe ome ee BREATHING EXERCISES ; enerally, most people hold their breath when they do something stressful or play that big drum fill and quickly find out the hard way that they become tired and out of breath, which slows ther down and decreases the oxygen flow. By consciously practicing these simple breathing exercises each for a count of four beats while performing on the kit, you will greatly increase your physical stamina and make all of these patterns easier to play, and that’s what we want, isn't it? So hang on, take a deep breath, and let's apply these simple exercises, which can make all the difference in your drumming success: Take the 15-minute free fall, applying single strokes while breathing in and out every four bars: Hands five minutes Feet five minutes Hands and Feet five minutes Practicing this technique on a daily basis will quickly become second nature to you, and you won't always have to tell yourself to do it. Sometimes I find | need a little reminder, so | like to write myself notes on my snare head to make sure I'm applying these simple techniques, such as breathing and sitting up straight, while 'm practicing and playing live. Check what | wrote:ea Uo el ARG again © BEYOND BLasTING [AH mproving your skills on the drums is a slow and tedious process, especially if your only | goal is to become faster and have tons of chops. Obviously this doesn't happen [== overnight and can be very discouraging when you don't see immediate results; however, patience is a virtue, and progress will come slowly if you stick to it tong enough We all want to improve our skills and reach our goals as quickly as possible, but it is important to make time for other things and have intetests in something other than drums. | know this might sound strange to some, but your state of mind directly affects how you Jear and play the drums, along with everything else you want to accomplish in life. If your conly goal is to become the world’s greatest drummer, you might be disappointed when you fall short of that goal, which is great to strive for, but yau must stay realistic with your life's aspirations, | strongly suggest you find an additional interest that can spark your intellect and stimulate your mind. This will have a direct and positive effect on your drumming, not to mention life in general. My other interest is nature and wildlife, reptiles to be specific, and snakes to be exact. | breed snakes (well, don't actually breed them; I leave that to the snakes, but | give them a little Barry White music in the background to set a mood) and then sell them to ‘collectors and pet stores around the country. | find snakes simply fascinating and have been interested in them since | was a little kid. | now have more than 50 snakes, most of which are a form of python. For me there's nothing like watching a baby snake poke its head out of its shell and take its first breath of air. The evolution of life can be a magical thing, These snakes do require a good bit of my time each week—feeding and cleaning can become a chore—but it gives me a few moments every day to take my mind off of drums and work and the daily stress that life can bring, This helps me reflect on how much joy I can receive from other things besides music and drumming. With a happy and clear mind, | can be much more productive when I sit behind my drums again, especially when | begin my practice sessions. IF you fee! like you'e stuck in the mud with your drumming, step away for a week of two and surround yourself with other things you like to do. Find something that will make you feel, good about yourself and try to accomplish small goals as often as possible, and I guarantee youl see progress in your drumming,92 fea ae NOTE: Use these guitar loops to practice any of the exercises throughout the book! o oOo 9 Guitar oop Getertoop Guitar Loop I Hl 1 1 I I i I 1oe eerieeal) Ucimeg ahd ed Vi CONGESTED WITH FEAR *W ongested with Fear"is a song | wrote with endurance in mind. The ability to push yourself to overcome speed barriers while holding tempos for a long period of time is one of the biggest obstacles you'll face when playing extreme metal. | find this tempo (16th notes around 205 bpm) to be a significant speed barrier to try to cross. This is. just out of reach for most players who don't play extreme music, and once you can achieve this goal, reaching 215 bpm becomes less difficult, and so on, and so on. Playing 16th-note triplets can be easier to control because of its pulse, and seems to work better for pushing tempos beyond what is normally comfortable At the end of this song (measure 65), you can really sense the difference in feel and sound when | switch to the 32nd-note feel verses the 16th-note sextuplet feel at the same bpm. Another factor to be aware of is how hard you are physically playing each hand stroke or foot stroke. As you know, with your hands, the faster you play, the smaller the motion naturally becomes, so be aware of this as you're playing this song, Keep the distance of your foot strokes fairly short at first, until your muscles learn the motion of traveling that fast AND for that amount of time. This is called muscle memory, and once you get more comfortable with the motion, then you can start playing with a bit more conviction. Take your time and slowly work your way through this track. its important that you do not stop once you begin playing the song even if you cannot make it through it in its entirety at this tempo. Simply drop the note value down to eighths and continue playing along. When you feel your muscles have had enough time to relax, jump back to 16th notes. After a month or so of practicing this track repeatedly, you'll find yourself playing through the entire song with greater ease and confidence. Enjoy! r= == eee eeao ome: ead Th J=140 So CONGESTED WITH FEAR by DERE! = a qe oe Sr manaks Uo: Repeat 3X 6 Sen an en en eeBay ee ee ry ae TanWaa) Lo eSibaa) LOMO aA dd | BSake eeee eT ad THE MARZEAR LABYRINTH he blast beats in this song are just fast enough to be considered a true blast. Thirty- ___ second notes at 90 bpmare just on the edge of being referred to as a blast beat—any © slower and it would be a considered a fast skank. With that in mind, | wrote this song, for the most part, as a warm-up for your feet. Almost every section in this song has constant double bass kicking away, which is a great way to force you to play three minutes of consistent 32nd notes. When learning this track, take your time and make sure that the quality of the notes equals the quantity. Think about spacing, and also think about pacing yourself so you can make it through the entire song. As with “Congested with Fear’, if you begin to feel as if you cannot make it through the entire song, DO NOT STOP PLAYING. Again, drop the note value down and continue to play along. In measure 5, | added a mirroring hand pattern to the first section of double bass runs. This helps to line up the feet and hands together which also keeps the pattern nice and tight. The blasting section in this song (measure 12) is at a moderate tempo, which will help you work ‘on your blasting quality, which is obviously much more difficult to do at faster tempos. Because this is a slower blasting song, it presents a good opportunity to hone in and be aware of the velocity and volume of your left hand on the snare drum. Think about the snare strokes and make them the same volume as the kick drum strokes, making sure the riding sound source doesn't overpower the snare, This is a common mistake overlooked by many drummers who try blasting for the first time. There is nothing worse than the snare drum disappearing during a blast section; it simply defeats the purpose. This tempo also allows you to focus on playing blasts with fluidity while thinking about the accents and how they can shape the feel of the blast beat to make it groove. Measure 24 has another pattern that lines up 32nd notes with both hands and feet, as in measure 5. Notice how much different this pattern feels within the body when played as a blast beat, and realize how different sound sources will change the way a pattern feels physically. rn: |Tee ee vp © THEMARZEAR LABYRINTH, ccscacco- wire roms Repeat 3X xo Fn noe aor103Ee Ee Half Open Hi-atsTIVIT TTS TT TTT TTT IIIT TIF sss sess III IIIs s IIs dddd ao Omoa Tas Th Repeat 3X Adding Crashes Play Ghosted Snares on Repeat Repeat 4X Adding Crashes Play Snare on Repeat Adding Crashes Oo SsWises UL aS HALLS OF CERBERUS if specifically wrote this song to practice blasting at a fast tempo for an extended period f time. Playing 32nd notes at 115 bpm and above is what we consider in the extreme > metal world to be the early stages of FAST, and this will be the most difficult song to Master because of its tempo. It’s much harder to execute with your feet than your hands at. these tempos, and for that reason this song doesn't have too much double bass going on. Perfecting your double bass at this speed is difficult and takes time. | wanted this song to be € goal for you to strive for but didn’t want to take the fun out of getting it down” by loading it up with double bass everywhere, either. So if you believe you can handle more double bass in this song, by all means add it in. Remember, you don't have to play these tracks exactly as Written and recorded, but it would be a nice bat to set and try to achieve. Although there’s not much double bass going on in this song, | did want to include the left foot ribbon crasher to help you work on your balance. Starting at measure 15, the crasher is. played with the left foot on the and’. The skank section of this song (measures 36-38) is played with a swing or shuffle feel. You can reference the Metal Fee! and Punk Feel Skank examples on page 15, because these measures are swung with a combination of both notation examples. Before you start to work on this song, try going through a few of the Hand/Foot Combinations on pages 70 and 71 as a warm-up. This will help adjust your balance for executing the song. As you play through this track a few times, be sure to make mental notes about your posture and any physical differences you might notice, Another characteristic about this song are the accenting ride parts I've added while blasting. ‘The accent pattern here is similar to the variations in the Accent Section on pages 61-63. Accenting definitely helps establish a better sense of time in the surrounding chaos of notes, ‘An extremely helpful hint to better execute at these tempos is to feel the groove as a half- time pulse. Even though you'ee playing a ton of notes, the pulse and groove should be that of the average rock song. So when you listen to “Halls of Cerberus’, imagine Phil Rudd and AC/DC playing along with you as you blast away. Try to visualize Rudd's groove within all of those notes, and if you can make all the notes feel good to the listener, you have achieved your goal as an extreme metal musician. 106TTT TT TITT ITIP I IVF a sess I SSIS SSSI SS ESI ISS EIISCISS ao Umea Tad Vhs jeus HALLSOF CERBERUS, cxxexs000% 107a ea teeTIVIIIII ITI III IVI TIA IVI GIGI ISI SII SSIs ISOS Tia oka ated hs ADD Crasher AQ Crashes Repeat 3X ‘ ‘ 3 ‘ ‘ ‘ f 4y Fi ay é at ts we igs | : 2 ‘epeat 3X Repeat i tld leelee ye + = tetra te tet = Repeat 3K -A0 Crashes Fm Repeat 3X AOD Crashes 47 TT TT TT.